Sexual Assaults Spark Warning From Gloucestershire Police Not To Be Out Alone

Women are being warned to avoid walking alone in the dark after three similar sex attacks took place in the same county in six months.

The three incidents happened within Gloucestershire and while they are not formally being linked police said they are investigating similarities in the crimes.

In two cases the offender wore a balaclava during the attacks on women aged 16, 18 and 20.

A team of detectives has been assembled to investigate the sexual offences which took place in Cheltenham, Innsworth and Gloucester between November last year and earlier this month.

Two men from the Gloucester area have been arrested and since released on police bail, Gloucestershire police said.

Detective Sergeant Angela Middlewood said: "These are three crimes in which young women were targeted by strangers in public places, which, fortunately, is relatively rare in Gloucestershire.

"We are investigating all three crimes together because of similarities between them, but we have not formally established a link at this time and are not sure the same offender is responsible, although it's not something we can rule out.

The first attack took place on 30 November 2011 at around 8.25pm. An 18-year-old woman was grabbed by a man and sexually assaulted as she walked through Welch Road playing fields, in the Hester's Way area of Cheltenham.

On 19 January this year at around 6.45pm a 16-year-old girl was walking across the footbridge from Penrose Road to Evergreen Walk, which crosses the A40, at Innsworth, when she was approached by a man.

The man threatened, assaulted and indecently assaulted the girl, and stole her mobile phone.

The most recent attack took place on 2 May, at around 10.30pm, when a 20-year-old woman was attacked as she walked along a grassed area behind the Clock Tower, near West Lodge Drive, in the Coney Hill area of Gloucester.

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Final touches are made to the nearly completed Jubilee Gardens as the London Eye stands in the background in London, England. The gardens, which are situated on London's South Bank, are due to open to the public on May 31, ready for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The Gardens were first created in 1977 to celebrate The Queen's Silver Jubilee. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Sunlight reflects off The Shard in central London as construction continues on the building. (Lewis Whyld/PA)

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Sailors work onboard HMS Hurworth (L) near Tower Bridge in London, England. The Royal Navy will be providing The Royal Barge Honour Guard during the Diamond Jubilee River Pageant on The River Thames on June 3, 2012. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

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Actress Angelina Jolie arrives to meet government ministers ahead of a screening of her new film 'In the Land of Blood and Honey' at the Foreign Commonwealth Office (FCO) in London, England. Angelina Jolie spoke on the Foreign Secretary's initiative on preventing sexual violence in Conflict, ahead of the screening. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Hindu devotees take holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of the Rivers Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati, on the occasion of Ganga Dussehra festival, in Allahabad, India (AP/Rajesh Kumar Singh)

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Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi waves while leaving a community center in Mahachai, Samut Sakhon Province, Thailand on Wednesday, May 30, 2012. Kicking off her first trip abroad in nearly a quarter-century, Suu Kyi offered encouragement Wednesday to impoverished Myanmar migrants whose flight to neighboring Thailand is emblematic of the devastation wrought on her homeland by decades of misrule. (AP/Sakchai Lalit)

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President Barack Obama presents rock legend Bob Dylan with a Medal of Freedom during a ceremony at the White House in Washington. (AP/Charles Dharapak)

Virginie Razzano of France celebrates defeating Serena Williams as referee Eva Asderaki of Greece calls the matchball in at the end the first round match at the French Open tennis tournament in Roland Garros stadium in Paris. Razzano won in three sets, 6-4, 6-7. 3-6. (AP/Christophe Ena)

Jamaica's Usain Bolt during a press conference at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. Bolt will compete in the 100m event in the Diamond League on Thursday. (John Giles/PA)

A construction worker stands on a platform amongst the Union Flags in the rafters of Covent Garden installed in honour of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in London. (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP/Getty Images)